While electioneering activities have crippled governance in most states of the federation, Governor Muhammad Abubakar is rewriting the narrative of stalled government activities during an election season in Bauchi State, Blessing Bature writes.
With the tempo within the political space at its peak following the campaigns for the 2019 polls, some state governors holders are no longer in the business of doing what they were elected to do. Rather than focusing on governance, they are enrapt in the electioneering process in a bid to retain their elective offices.
This has slowed the pace of governance in their states. It has always been so with every election season in Nigeria. The period is always crowded with pre-election activities, ranging from party primaries, electioneering campaign to elections. This year is not different, as governors have abandoned governance in pursuit of their 2019 political ambitions.
The activities for 2019 politics have abysmally reduced the level of governance, projects execution and other services in most states of federation. State executive council meetings have not been regular.
But surprisingly, the case is different in Bauchi State where Governor Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar is said to have maintained the standards and adhered strictly to the rules in the art of governance. At a time when various state governments in the country have not been able to do as much as the electorate had desired because of the present economic challenges, it has been a success story in Bauchi.
In governance, like all other speres of human endeavours, trust is the name of the game. Governor Abubakar has earned the trust and admiration of the old and young with each step he has taken since he was sworn-in as governor on May 29, 2015. The governor’s stride impressed the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bauchi State chapter, so much that during a Christmas homage to the governor on December 26, 2018, the association declared that, “Bauchi State under Governor Abubakar is the safest in the Northeast zone.”
The CAN delegation, which was led by Rev Joshua Maina, its chapter chairman, couldn’t have lied. Majority of indigenes in Bauchi are of the view that ordinarily, it is needless for governor Abubakar to dissipate energy or resources to campaign for re-election, as his footprints are so obvious in all sectors of the state’s economy. Studies have proven that there is a correllation between economic hardship and high rate of crime or insecurity. But because Governor Abubakar has within the last three and half years transformed Bauchi State economically, the state is not only adjudged the safest investment destination, but also a state where religious harmony has prevailed, needless to re-emphasise the security of lives and property.
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It is no news that the insecurity that has been revaging the Northeast, of which Bauchi State is an integral part of, started rearing its ugly head in the time past. But because Bauchi State under Governor Abubakar has witnessed a new lease of life in all sectors of the state economy, security threat is now a long forgoten issue.
Unlike in many states of Nigeria where civil servants have become a mere shadows of their boisterous selves, in Governor Abubakar’s Bauchi, core civil servants are thanking God everyday for giving them a governor with a milk of human kindness and heart of gold.
Instead of the curses and insults that pensioners and teachers rain on their state executives when they go to bed at night on empty stomachs and are unable to fend for or send their children to school, Bauchi civil servants, pensioners and teachers pray daily to Allah to grant Governor Abubakar good health, long life and ‘re-election without tears,’ so that they can continue to live meaningful life.
For pensioners, teachers and civil servants in Bauchi State, the question at the moment is, ‘What is more to fancy in a tobacco than smoke?’ Or better still, ‘is there any need to change a winning formular?’ The thinking is that they have found a Messiah in Governor Abubakar, and they have lined up behind him, and all that is there is “carry Go Untill 2023, Insha Allah!”
One of the frequently asked questions among Governor Abubakar’s friends is, ‘how is he doing all these in the face of lean government resources?’ The answer is not far fetched, as Thomas Jefferson succinctly said, “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” Even his foes cannot doubt Governor Abubakar’s sturbborn adherence to the time-tested virtue of honesty. That is why Bauchi deserves another four years of ‘Fresh Air’ under his dynamic, transparent and accountable leadership.
Having seen Governor Abubakar’s sincerity of purpose like the Bauchi State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria did, a coalition of 30 political parties in Bauchi State unanimously pledged to support the governor’s re-election recently.
In declaring their support, the coalition of 30 political parties said, “We have firmly resolved to support and campaign for Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, the governoship candidate of APC in Bauchi State. No crack shall be allowed to thwart our collective success.”
The coalition’s support for Governor Abubakar’s re-election is based on his records of achievements and merit, and nothing else. To begin with, if support is to be bought, how much and where will the governor cough-out such money from to buy the support of 30 political parties?
Governor Abubakar’s astonishing performance has not stopped him from rendering his social responsibility to students of Bauchi State origin scattered all over the various citadel of higher learning across Nigeria. To some, power, especially political power, is a means of discriminating against others or prove social class, but for Abubakar, the exalted office of the governor has not changed his disposition to friends and the downtrodden. This, analysts say, is what true leadership ordained by God is all about.
